However, changes had recently been made to the BVD Regulations which were being applied retrospectively. As the man was in compliance with the revised BVD Regulations, payment would issue to him shortly – provided he met all other requirements of the scheme.

Outcome

The Ombudsman found that the Department had applied the terms and conditions of the BDGP Scheme correctly at the time the application was processed.

He also noted that due to the changes in the BVD Regulations, the man would now be paid.

There are 24,544 participants in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme in 2018. Payments to 21,673 of these commenced on the week of the 10th of December 2018.